Nintendo to ship Switch 2 with easier-to-replace batteries in Europe later this year
Nintendo will stop shipping the original Switch to Europe in 2027, just before its 10th anniversary
Portable gaming articles
Someone finally built a working Game Boy emulator for E-ink screens
This modder proves an old dev board can run 30-year-old games at full speed
MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ with Intel Arc G3 launches at $1,800
MSI says it tried everything to lower the price, but rising memory costs left little room to maneuver
Steam Deck sells out again despite $300 price hike, meanwhile Intel unveils new handheld chip to counter AMD's dominance
New handhelds with Intel Arc G3 are coming next month
Sony's upcoming handheld could outperform Xbox Series S with next-gen upscaling
Meanwhile, Steam Deck 2 may not arrive until 2028 or later
Intel claims Panther Lake's new Arc B390 iGPU crushes AMD's best mobile graphics
Intel wants its GPUs inside the next wave of handheld PCs – if the benchmarks hold
Big quote: According to Intel's benchmarks, the new Core Ultra X9 388H equipped with the Arc B390 iGPU is ~73% faster than the Ryzen AI HX 370 on average. AMD's Strix Point SoC is powered by Radeon 890M integrated graphics. Intel also claims its new chips surpass AMD in ray tracing, frame generation, and other graphics workloads.
GPD Win 5 handheld PC reaches 70-90% of PS5 performance
Twice as fast as the Asus ROG Ally X, but potentially twice the price
Don't expect a Steam Deck 2 until silicon breakthroughs arrive, says Valve
Valve wants more than a 50% gain in performance-per-watt
New teardown reveals the Xbox Ally X is built for repairability - if parts actually ship
Battery and SSD could be user-replaceable, potential for Hall-effect sticks
This DIY "briefcase" PS5 is 60% smaller than the original, even with its built-in 15-inch display
Modder ditched Sony's oversized cooler for a server-grade heatsink and 3D-printed fan
Lenovo Legion Go 2 with OLED display and Ryzen Z2 Extreme launches in October, starting at $1,049
Too pricey for mainstream gamers?
Steam Deck 2 may not arrive until 2028 as Valve waits for next-gen performance
Likely in time for Zen 6, RDNA 5, or possibly even RDNA 6
Asus ROG Xbox handheld launches October 16 with Steam Deck-like optimizations
Pricing remains uncertain likely due to tariffs
The big picture: Microsoft has finally set a release date for its first Xbox handheld gaming PC, built in partnership with Asus. But while the devices aim to bring Steam Deck – style simplicity to the somewhat messy world of portable Windows gaming – streamlining optimization, shader compilation, and even layering in AI – their future still hinges on a volatile factor outside Microsoft's control: shifting US tariffs that make final pricing a moving target.
We Tested the Switch 2 Display - Is It Really That Slow?
The Nintendo Switch 2's display has sparked some criticism for poor motion and questionable HDR. We ran our own tests to see how it stacks up, and found some surprising (and not so flattering) results.
Xbox app now lets Windows Insiders launch games from Steam, Epic, and more
Insiders get a sneak peek at Microsoft's new handheld gaming interface
Microsoft's own Xbox handheld is "essentially cancelled"
The next-gen Xbox is still in the works
PlayStation handheld leak suggests PS5 game support via low-power mode, upscaling, and extra cache
Sony is reportedly planning a "low-power" mode for the PlayStation 5
AMD unveils Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme and Z2 A chips powering Xbox gaming handhelds
The Z2 Extreme packs a 50 TOPS NPU for on-device AI processing
Microsoft pauses work on Xbox handheld to focus on third-party Windows gaming devices
The project is not canceled, though
SteamOS outperforms Windows on the Lenovo Legion Go S in both speed and battery life
Windows was holding back Lenovo's gaming handheld
What just happened? Lenovo showcased two versions of its Legion Go S gaming handheld last January at CES 2025. While the Windows model launched in February, the SteamOS version has only just started shipping (with nearly identical hardware specs). Benchmarks released by popular YouTuber Dave Lee suggest that the latter is noticeably faster and more battery-efficient than the Windows version.
Zotac's new OLED handheld gaming PC runs a Linux-based OS
A new Manjaro OS fork powered by AMD's Radeon 890M iGPU
First look at Asus ROG Ally 2 and Microsoft's Project Kennan handheld
The rumored portable Xbox could launch as soon as this month
Sony's upcoming PlayStation 6 handheld may be less powerful than the PS5
Featuring a 3nm SoC that draws 15W
Rarely used microSD Express cards sell out in Japan after Switch 2 unveiling
Nintendo Switch 2 requires microSD Express, which only SanDisk and Lexar currently offer
Bottom line: The SD Express standard for memory cards initially debuted in 2018 but has seen virtually no use because most devices don't meet its bandwidth specifications. The Nintendo Switch 2 might be the first widely available product that requires microSD Express, and its unveiling has already sparked a substantial sales spike for the format.
Every first-party Nintendo Switch 2 game will cost $70 or $80 – even the old ones
Nintendo cites upgrades, inflation, and tariffs as reasons for the higher prices